


The Re-Sorting of Hogwarts, or why the Hat should be in charge!

by NightRain712



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Explicit Sexual Content, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hufflepuff Neville Longbottom, Hufflepuff Ron Weasley, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Ravenclaw Hermione Granger, Slytherin Harry Potter, Sorry Not Sorry, Top Draco Malfoy, Underage Sex, for now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 10:42:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17323517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightRain712/pseuds/NightRain712
Summary: Harry was not expecting this when he boarded the train that morning, or when he sat in the Great Hall next to Ron and Hermione and listened to Dumbledore standing alongside McGonagall, telling the students the Sorting Hat had a special surprise for all of them, and if only they could wait until the first years are sorted. He's not surprised for Hermione, Ron is a matter of deduction, and himself? Well, he knew all along, didn't he? But what comes after is more than a surprise, it might just change everything.





	The Re-Sorting of Hogwarts, or why the Hat should be in charge!

**Author's Note:**

> So, for anyone familiar with my other works: I AM SORRY! I know I haven't posted or updated in forever, but writer's block is a bitch, and honestly, I'm too horrified at my young writing to try and re-read it right now to try and update. Maybe in the future. Probably.
> 
> Anyways, ever since I read the infamous Carlesjo's Parselmouth of Slytherin back in the day (before all the videos and artwork and the blog sites were almost entirely removed from the internet) I've been entirely obsessed with Slytherin!Harry, and with Harry-stalks-Draco-sixth-year, and I wanted a good Hogwarts!era fic that covered those, but of course, I couldn't find it. I've been toying with writing this for years, but I don't want it to seem like every other re-Sorted fic, or to be too much like P.o.S. (which I barely remember, but remember fondly). Anyways, this isn't finished, and I don't know how often I'll update, but it will be a multi-chapter story, and I'm looking forward to writing it. 
> 
> It is not beta read, but if anyone would like to do so, feel free to contact me about it (this includes my other stories.)
> 
> WARNING: GRAPHIC SEX BETWEEN UNDERAGE MALE WIZARDS CONTAINED WITHIN! Also, the characters are not mine, nor even the plot concept I'm running with, but the way in which I do is my own. This is a non-profit work of fiction, not to be distributed or listed on other sites without my approval.

"I love you."

"You say that all the time."

"And I mean it every time. I don't want to lose you."

"But don't you see? You're actions prove to me that you're not thinking about us, you're thinking about you! You're so afraid that you can't even stand up for what's right. How am I supposed to trust you when you won't even trust me?"

"Harry... He's going to kill me if I don't do this. And my mum and dad. I have to protect them, just like you always have to protect your Gryffindors."

"I would never do this, though, Draco, I would never do Voldemort's bidding and promise to kill someone."

"I don't have a choice."

"We always have a choice."

"Not this time."

***  
The Great Hall is full of chatter as the students eagerly await the start of the Sorting ceremony. Just moments ago, Dumbledore had announced a special surprise from the Hat, he had said the Hat would reserve its song for the end of the sorting of the first years, but had declined to tell them anything else. Now the students are all whispering to each other in excitement as the small first years file into the Great Hall for the first time. Harry could remember what it was like for him, even though it seems like so long ago now. He remembers the confusion he felt, wondering what kind of "test" he would have to perform, like maybe battle a dragon... He chuckles at the thought now.

At the front of the Hall, Professor McGonagall holds the Sorting Hat in one hand and the list of this year's firsties in the other. One by one, each child is sorted into one of the four Houses, and welcomed to their new table. At the end of the sorting, McGonagall places the Hat upon the stool and takes a step back while the Hat stretches its brim into a mouth. Then it sings:

"Come one, come all, dear students of the Hall,  
For this year is a special year, as I re-sort you all!  
Old Houses go to new, but except for a few,  
As this year will test you, and those you thought you knew.  
Special friendships forged by fire,   
Only those with the greatest will, will get their heart's desire.  
For in this year strife and chaos await those that stand apart,  
In darkness, there is nothing but pain,  
But standing together will ease the suffering."

It seems almost ridiculously short, but the silence that follows is deafening if only for the few moments it takes the students to process the news. 

"Did that hat just say we were all getting re-bloody-sorted?" Ron looks at him and Hermione almost desperately, and Harry knows why; the thought of being separated and forced into a new House sends a chill down his spine.

"Yes, but worse than that," Hermione says quietly, "he said something really bad is coming this year, and that we all need to stand together, or we'll be hurt."

"Like what, we've already had dementors and Umbridge here!" Ron snorts. "I can't imagine what could be worse than that that he would feel the need to re-sort the whole bloody school."

"Language, Ron. And I don't know, but it can't be good."

"Silence, please." Professor McGonagall's voice calls out across the Hall, and the buzzing of the students settle. "Now, we will start with the second years and work upwards." She looks down at the list in her hand, which now seems to be much longer than before. "Kaitlyn Alice." 

A small Hufflepuff stands up shakily and sits on the stool; McGonagall places the Hat on her head, and only a moment later she is re-sorted back into Hufflepuff. The girl runs back to her friends in relief.

Harry looks at Ron and Hermione, and they look back at him. This is really taking place, then.

"Good thing it's only lunchtime, this is gonna take forever!" Ron looks wistfully at their empty plates.

"I don't think that's a coincidence, Ron," Hermione says. "Think about it, Dumbledore knew the Hat was going to do this, that's why the train got us here so early so that we could all be re-sorted before bedtime, so no one would have to sleep in a House they're not going to be in."

"It does make sense," Harry agrees. "But why re-sort us at all? Why not just tell us to be more co-operative?"

"Because that's really worked so well in the past." Ron rolls his eyes.

"No, Ron's right," Hermione says. "Whatever's coming, it's going to take more than just everyone getting along, or the professors wouldn't force us all into new Houses. Do you think it's You-Know-Who the hat is worried about?"

"I expect so," Harry says. "What else could it be beside him?"

"I don't know. But you said in your letters that Dumbledore said he wasn't going to avoid you anymore, so maybe now you can ask him about this and he'll tell you."

"I don't know, Hermione, even when Dumbledore didn't avoid me, he wasn't always forthcoming."

"That's true, but it's worth a shot asking, especially if the hat does want us to be prepared for something."

"Alright, I'll ask when I can."

 

***

 

It seems to take forever, but the Hat eventually gets to his year. A lot of students had so far been re-sorted, more than Harry was expecting, really. Now, with that in the front of his mind, he wonders who in his year will be re-sorted. Ron, Hermione, Neville? Him? The uncertainty makes him nervous.

"Hannah Abbott," McGonagall calls out.

Yet again starting with a Hufflepuff, no one is surprised when she, too, goes back to her original House. The girl is honestly too mousey for anything else but Hufflepuff.

The students flow one by one through the hat, and some of the ones to be re-sorted come as a surprise, and those that stay, not so much. Harry and Ron look at Hermione as her name is called out, and she grips both their hands before standing from the table and walking to the hat. It's placed on her head, and after a minute, she's announced as a Ravenclaw. Harry is both sad and not surprised. It's always baffled him and Ron why she was ever placed in Gryffindor, to begin with, as she's so smart and studious, but thankfully, it seems like they readily welcome her, and he's relieved to see it.

Seamus remains a Gryffindor, but Neville is sorted into Hufflepuff, and Harry looks nervously at Ron. He can't imagine either of them being sorted into a different House, but then again, he couldn't imagine that this re-Sorting would ever occur in the first place. It seems like with the exception of Hermione, Neville and a few others, everyone in his year stays where they are, at least so far.

Parkinson, the Patil twins and Perks all remain in their Houses, then his name is called.

"Harry Potter."

The room hushes, as he knew it would when it was finally his turn, and he looks at Ron next to him, and Hermione and Neville across the room, in other Houses. They were already separated, would it really change anything more if he got sent to a new House as well?

Ron grips his shoulder in strength and Harry stands and makes his way to the hat on the stool, where his new fate lie. Whether or not he's re-Sorted, Ron and Hermione will always be his friends, and the others, too, and that's what's most important, not what colors his school robes are, or where he sleeps at night, or what table he eats at during meals.

He meets McGonagall's eye and she gives him a small smile, almost unnoticeable; he smiles back, more of a grimace, really, and sits. The hat doesn't cover his eyes this time, he's grown too big for that, but its voice does fill his ears again, and he wonders what it will say this time. Perhaps it still wants him in Slytherin.

"My, my, Harry Potter, you have been a troublemaker in Gryffindor."

"What? I am not a troublemaker."

"Sure, it always finds you, huh? Your father said the same thing when I sorted him, but then, he was a prankster from the start. And being in Gryffindor didn't help, just like it's not going to help you now. You know where you belong."

"I belong in Gryffindor, with Ron and Hermione, and Neville, too." He tries.

"You used to, but only because you all asked. But now it's time to place you all where you really have to be, and you know in your heart where that is."

"Wait, you're saying we're only Gryffindors because we asked to be? All of us? I thought you chose for us."

"Asking for the things you want most of all is the truest sign of bravery, and each of you asked to be in Gryffindor, although I think in your case it was just "not Slytherin". But still, it remains the same."

"Did Neville ask, too?"

"Yes. I recommended him for Hufflepuff, but I believe he was afraid he would disappoint his grandmother by not being in Gryffindor, just like your Weasley, friend, in fact."

"So if you say that us asking for Gryffindor is the truest sign of bravery, then why did you change that now, and send us to different Houses?"

"Asking for Gryffindor was a defining moment for you young ones then, but it will not be enough now, in the year to come. You all have to learn what being in your true Houses can teach you, otherwise, the consequences can be dire."

"What if I don't want to go to a different House? What if I want to stay in Gryffindor?"

"You are only asking to delay the inevitable, you know where you must go."

"But, I could be in Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff, right? It doesn't have to be in -

"SLYTHERIN!"

The hat's voice rings across the room suddenly, as loudly as a Sonorous, and Harry's heart beats madly in his chest. Did it really, is he really in Slytherin, now, of all places? The hat didn't really shout that out loud, did it?

The hat ruffles his hair as it's lifted off his head, and he turns to see McGonagall looking at him. There might be surprise or sadness in her expression, but she's hiding it well. He twists on the stool to see Dumbledore, but the old man still has the same twinkle in his eye, and if anything, that calms Harry a bit. Dumbledore isn't mad about his sorting, then.

He looks to see Ron's pale expression and Hermione's un-surprised expression, and then finally looks to the table of his new House. Shock, anger, joy, and glee. And then there's Malfoy, who Harry hasn't looked at at all tonight. He looks - victorious.

Harry swallows nervously and stands on shaky legs to go to his new table. At his approach, some of the students up and down the table eagerly scooch apart to make room for him, including Blaize Zabini and Pansy Parkinson, who were sat across from Malfoy. Harry sits between them, across from Malfoy, whose flanked on either side by Crabbe and Goyle, and almost distantly hears as McGonagall moves on to the next student.

Malfoy looks like he won something, and Harry finds it unsettling. He looks away back to the Gryffindor table each time a new name comes up, waiting for Ron's turn.

Dean stays in Gryffindor, and Seamus seems especially glad for it. But then, Harry supposed they are best friends, like he and Ron.  
After Dean's turn is a Ravenclaw named Lisa, and then Ron's is being called up. He looks pale and green like he's going to vomit slugs again like they're back in their second year. He sits on the stool and McGonagall places the hat on his head and it's quiet for long enough that Harry wonders if the hat is going to put Ron somewhere else as it did with him, Hermione and Neville. But where would he go, if it did? Certainly not Slytherin, Ron would die first, or at least quit Hogwarts altogether. Ravenclaw seems unlikely, if only because Ron doesn't really care for studying the way Ravenclaws and the newly Sorted Hermione do. So that would leave just Hufflepuff then.

And Hufflepuff it is, apparently. The hat shouts it out, and Harry is as surprised as the rest of them. Poor Ron though, looks like he might faint. McGonagall gives him the same smile she gave Harry and gently eases him off the stool and over to the Hufflepuff table. They scooch aside for him, and he finds a spot next to Neville. Well, at least those two will have each other. And Hermione has Padma, Pavarti's twin sister. And Harry has... a bunch of Slytherin's watching him closely. Well, that's not creepy at all, now is it?

He leans back in his seat, watching Malfoy watching him, and just barely listens as the Sorting continues; it'll be over soon, just the seventh years left. Thankfully the professors weren't so cruel as to make the school wait until the entire re-Sorting was finished before letting them eat; he's not sure he could eat now, with the Slytherins looking at him the way they are, Malfoy especially. But still, he grabs a dish of pudding and eats it anyway.

Twelve students in the seventh year are re-Sorted somewhere new, including a Slytherin. She goes to Hufflepuff. Both sides look at each in distrust. Harry feels sorry for her, before remembering where he is.

At the head of the room, McGonagall vanishes the list in her hand and carries the Hat and Stool out of the room. At the teacher's table, Dumbledore stands and bids them a good-night, reminding them all of the hat's message about House Unity, and how they should learn to trust each other. Harry wonders if he could ever learn to trust any of the Slytherins, with the way they're looking at him like he's a morsel they can't wait to eat.

Dumbledore waves his hands, shooing them, and the students clamber to their feet, fleeing the Great Hall and this madness. Harry stands and makes his way out with the rest of them. Ron and Hermione are waiting for him just outside the doors, and he joins them, already anticipating what they're going to say.

"Bloody hell! Slytherin, mate?" Ron speaks first.

"I know. I asked not to go there, but the hat insisted."

"Did he say why?" Hermione asks curiously.

"Yeah, actually. He said we all needed to learn what being in our true Houses would teach us."

"What, to watch our backs?" Ron looks pointedly at the Slytherins, who seem to be waiting for Harry at the stairs leading to the dungeons.

"I don't think so. He said something about what's coming this year, and how being Gryffindors wouldn't help us anymore."

"I don't like this. I mean, bad enough it put me and Hermione in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but it put you in Slytherin! Doesn't it know what's going to happen? All bloody hell is going to break loose!"

"Language, Ron. And actually, I think that's what the hat is trying to prevent; war. That's what's coming, isn't it? Because of You-Know-Who. I'm still not sure how being in different Houses is going to help prevent that, though. Not when he's back, and he's going to be trying to get more followers."

"I don't know, either, Hermione. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Hey, Potty! Are you finished flirting with Weasleby and Granger? We're not going to wait forever." A voice shouts across the entrance hall, interrupting their conversation and gathering their attention.

"Bloody Malfoy," Ron muttered.

Harry looked over at Malfoy, who was leaning against the wall by the stairs, surrounded by his gang of Slytherins, and smirking smugly.

"You don't have to go, mate," Ron says. "I'm sure if you ask Dumbledore, he'll let you stay in Gryffindor."

"It's fine, Ron, I'm not scared of them. Besides, I'm not the only one re-Sorted; remember that seventh year Slytherin in Hufflepuff now? I'm more scared for her, and Neville, too. Anyways, I should go and follow them down to the dungeons. I can't let them wonder how I know the Slytherin common room location if they don't show me."

"That's right, they don't know we know. Alright, just watch your back, Harry, remember, Slytherins are sneaky, slimy little buggers."

"Yeah, right. Night, guys." He waves at them as he turns to walk over to his new Housemates.

"Good night, Harry."

"Yeah, night Harry."

The three parted ways and Harry looked to the group waiting for him by the stairs. Now or never, he supposed.

 

***

 

It's incredibly awkward, walking down to the dungeons completely surrounded by the Slytherins on all sides. Malfoy is taking the lead, practically strutting like a peacock, with Zabini and Parkinson on his sides and Crabbe and Goyle behind Harry, caging him in. He wonders if they planned it like this, or are naturally just this aggressive.

They pass a few portraits on the way down, and the occupants seem confused and worried to see a Gryffindor surrounded by Slytherins, making their way to the dungeons. Harry understands why though, he's confused and worried himself.

It doesn't take as long as he thought it might. They follow the corridor where the potions class is, but they go to the end and take a left down, and after several more turns and flights of stairs, they stop in front of a blank stretch of wall. Harry is reminded of the Room of Requirement, suddenly.

Malfoy pulls out his wand and draws a circle in the air before he slashes through it diagonally. After just a few moments, a door appears, and he taps it with his wand and says the spell to unlock it. It swings inwards, to a long, narrow corridor lit by sconces. He steps inside, leading the way in, and the others give Harry no choice but to immediately follow in after.  
The sconces light up as they pass by, illuminating the dark hallway, and sooner than he thought, they reach the common room, which is actually exactly as Harry remembers it. Dark, black sofas angled facing each other, next to the lit fireplace. A few portraits on the wall, surrounded by landscapes, and tables and chairs, bookcases and fake charmed windows intermixed with windows showing the lake outside. Plush rugs covered the stone floor in front of the sofas.

"Charming." He says before he can help himself. It's actually the first thing he says to them at all so far, and he winces at the way he sounds now.

"Yes, it is," Pansy says without a hint of sarcasm.

He swallows uneasily at her expression and looks instead at Malfoy, who's taken a seat in the middle of a sofa, arms, and legs spread out like he's claiming the territory.

"So. Where are the beds, then?" He asks.

Malfoy raises an eyebrow. "Why, so eager to sleep with the Slytherins, Potter?"

"Actually, I'm just rather tired, and we all have classes tomorrow, Malfoy, so I'm sure we'd all like to go to sleep."

"Speak for yourself, Potty." Theodore Nott speaks up from the corner of the room, where'd he been sitting in a throne-like-chair.

"Alright. I'd like to get to sleep, then." Harry says pointedly, looking back to Malfoy.

Malfoy looks back at him for some moments before standing.

"Fine then. This way."

He leads the way to the other side of the room and through another dark hallway, and Harry's glad none of the other Slytherins have decided to follow them. It's unnerving enough, following Malfoy down a dark hallway like this. The hallway branches off in two directions, left and right, and they follow it left.

"Girls are to the right," Malfoy says, almost unnecessarily. Harry guessed as much.

This hallway branches off in two, like before, and like before they follow it left.

"The other way was the loo and showers," Malfoy says, in the same tone as before.

The hallway has a slight downward slope to it, and they pass by doors on either side, each one marked by a shiny silver plaque reading off the room's occupants, but not in name, though, just year; year one, year two, etc. Of course, they stop in front of year six and Malfoy opens the door to reveal their room. It's almost identical to the one Harry shared with the Gryffindors, in layout and general appearance, except for the colors and that this room seems bigger than theirs ever were.

Harry sees the trunks and belongings at each bed; GG, VC, TN, BZ, DM, and of course, right next to Malfoy's, HP. Unlike with the Gryffindors, their color scheme isn't in House colors, but instead a simple, elegant black, with silver trim. Surprisingly, Harry rather likes it, but he won't be saying that out loud.

He opens his trunk at the foot of his bed and gathers some pajamas and toiletries, and stands around to see Malfoy watching him.

"What?"

"Nothing, just - you know, now that you're a Slytherin, Potter, you should probably reconsider my offer from first year. Especially with the Dark Lord returned, who knows, it might be better to have some Slytherins on your side."

Harry glares at him, spine stiffening. "I won't accept your offer for the same reason now that I didn't then: you're a bully, and a git, especially if you think Voldemort coming back is a good thing, or did you forget he killed Cedric?"

"I think you forget, Potter, that he's already tried to kill you, several times, in fact. My father could protect you better than old Dumbledore ever could."

"Your father nearly killed Ginny second year, Malfoy, when he gave her that cursed book that possessed her and released the Basilisk. Why would I ever trust him?"

"Father didn't know it was cursed. Besides, you illegally freed our house elf."

"What does that have to do with anything? Dobby was a slave, and he wanted to be free. Anyway, your father is just as evil as Voldemort if he thinks he should follow him, and you're just as stupid if you think you should follow your father. Now excuse me, I have to get ready for bed. You guys may not care about being rested for class tomorrow, but I do."

Harry pushes past Malfoy, ignoring the burning glare on his back and heads back up the hallway to the showers.

What a great first night in Slytherin. He can't wait for the next two years here.

 

***

 

"Bloody hell, that's rough, mate." Ron nodded sympathetically at him from across the library table. They were studying together today, during a free period, the first time they could hang out all week.

"Tell me about it. And then Malfoy actually looked like I insulted him, rather than just pointed out the truth."

"Well, you did insult him. I reckon he was trying to be nice or something, in his own way, but the git deserves it, he's a git."

Harry chuckled, but then thought about it. If he ignored what Malfoy said about Voldemort and his father, he supposed Malfoy thought he was being nice, re-offering his friendship and support system like that. But his support system is nothing but evil Death Eaters and their children, so that doesn't really mean anything, does it?

"Do you think Hermione is alright, in Ravenclaw?" Ron taps his quill against the parchment absently, looking around as if she'll pop up from nowhere.

"Probably. They seem alright, and they were rather friendly to her at the feast. And we both know she should've always been in Ravenclaw, they think so too."

"Yeah, I reckon it'll probably be easier for her there than for you in Slytherin."

"Or you, in Hufflepuff. How is that, anyway? How's Neville doing in there, too?"

"It's fine, actually. They're all so - nice, like fluffy bunnies. I mean, one even gave me a hug! But I think maybe he thought I was someone else? He said something strange, but they're all a bit strange. Finch-Fletchley actually thinks he can fly, sometimes. I dunno, Harry. But Neville seems to like it there. I've never seen him so - open?"

"Yeah, I bet it's because he thinks now he doesn't have to try and be brave all the time just to fit in."

"Weird. We never acted like that, did we?"

"I don't know. We confronted a mountain troll and a giant three-headed dog first year, and Hermione did petrify him the first time he tried to stand up to someone; us."

"Yeah, I guess so. But still, we always liked him. But I guess he thinks he fits in better now with the Hufflepuffs."

"Maybe he might."

A stack of books landing on the table interrupts them, and Harry is startled to look up and see Malfoy sitting down at their table, in the empty seat next to him.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron asks hotly, already pulling out his wand.

Malfoy glances at him, and the wand pointed at him, but he must not have thought much of Ron's threat because he sits anyways. "Careful, Weasleby, or you might poke your eye out."

"Malfoy - "

"Easy, Weasley, I just came to study with Potter, since we are partners in Potions now, and I can't have him mucking up my potions with his incompetence."

Malfoy rolls his eyes at them, already opening the first book of the stack.

Ron gapes at him and looks at Harry. He shrugs. If Malfoy wants to study with them, he didn't much care, as long as he didn't insult them, and wasn't plotting anything against them.

Ron closes his mouth and focuses back on his essay, but he still glares at Malfoy, who either didn't notice or was just ignoring him. Anyway, his and Ron's conversation is clearly over now, so he might as well try and study for that potion Malfoy mentioned.

 

***

 

"Oh, it's lovely over there." Hermione sighed happily. "Everyone takes studying so seriously, I can actually hear myself think in the common room. And Padma actually offered to lend me her History notes, and Terry let me borrow his copy of a History of Magic, just so I could read his annotations! And Professor Sinistra offered me private tutoring sessions, and not just for her class!"

"Careful, Hermione, you sound like you're in love."

"Oh shut it, Ron." Hermione whacked him on the arm with a book and Harry laughed with them. "You have no idea what it's like there, to actually be surrounded by people who understand you, and won't mock you."

"OI! I understand you, 'Mione."

"Of course you do, Ron, but you don't want to study and read as we do. It's different. I never have to try and force anyone there to study with me, or to take homework seriously, like with you two."

"Sorry, 'Mione, but you know it's just that we're not like you, we prefer things like Quidditch and flying to studying boring books."

"My point exactly, Ron."

"Well I'm glad you like it over there, it's bloody weird in Hufflepuff, they're all a bunch of fluffs if you ask me. I don't understand any of them. But at least we're next to the kitchens."

"You would be happy to have easy access to food."

"Why shouldn't I? It's food!"

Harry smiles at them and looks up to see Malfoy watching him from the far side of the lake. Only Zabini was with him now, but Harry was curious what they could be up to, watching them like that, or him, specifically.

"Guys, do you reckon Malfoy might be up to something?"

Ron and Hermione pause their good-natured bickering to looking at him, where he was looking at Malfoy looking at them.

"Why do you say that, Harry?" Hermione asks him.

"I dunno, he's just always watching me. And you should've seen him the night of the feast when the hat announced I'd be in Slytherin. He looked like he'd won something, and then there was him offering his friendship again that night, and asking Slughorn to be my partner in potions."

"Wait, he asked Slughorn to be your partner? Slughorn didn't assign that?"

Harry looked at them, and saw Hermione's confused and calculating expression.

"Well, no, Slughorn didn't assign us until Malfoy asked. I think he was gonna pair me with someone else, actually."

"And what did he say, exactly, when he offered you his friendship?"

Harry bit his lip and looked across the lake, where he could see Malfoy's white hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

"He said I should reconsider his offer from first year, now that I'm in Slytherin. And that it would be good to have the Slytherin's support, with Voldemort after me."

"Really?"

"Yes. He also said his father could protect me better than Dumbledore could."

"Does the git really believe that?" Ron asks, his face twisted with disgust.

"Seems like it, although he looks up to his father, so I'm not really surprised."

"Neither am I," Hermione says. "In fact, it seems a bit odd, how last year he was trying so hard to get us all in trouble, and now he wants to be your friend again, now that you're in Slytherin."

"Well, he wanted to be my friend before we even got Hogwarts," Harry said. "I first met him in Madam Malkins, but I didn't like him because he insulted Hagrid. And then he insulted Ron on the train; that's why I turned him down, he reminded me of Dudley."

"And now?" Hermione asks.

"Well, now it's just because of what I told him when he re-offered. If his father is following Voldemort, and he follows his father, then I don't want anything to do with them."

"But Harry, don't you see?" Hermione leaned towards him, eyes lit up in calculation. "He may not want to follow his father or the Dark Lord, but he didn't know how to approach you otherwise. Maybe he is trying to win you over, but not so that you would join the dark side, but so that you could help him join ours, and fight You-Know-Who."

"Or maybe he's just a git," Ron says.

"Oh hush, Ron. Think about it, Harry, last year, it seemed like You-Know-Who had an advantage because nobody believed you about his return, and Umbridge was here, so he would have to play the part of the typical Slytherin. But now everyone knows He's back, and Umbridge is gone and Dumbledore is back. And you're in Slytherin, now! I bet you he thinks this is his chance to finally do something different, that he has a better chance now if he can only get you on his side."

"But don't you think it's a bit suspicious, 'Mione, that all this happened and now he wants to be friendly to Harry again? I bet you dear old daddy put him up to this."

"I'm not sure about that," Harry says. "He offered the same night of the feast, as soon as we got to our room. He couldn't have written Lucius and been instructed, not in that amount of time."

"He could've told Malfoy to befriend you over the summer."

"No, that would've been impossible, Ron," Hermione says. "Lucius was in Azkaban all summer, and unless the Ministry decided to revoke his sentence, he couldn't have written Draco."

"But Draco could still have gone to see him. He could've told him in person."

"That's unlikely. But even if he did, why? Why would he instruct his son and heir to befriend the very reason he's locked up?"

"I dunno, to spy on Dumbledore through Harry?"

"Well, I suppose. But it still seems unlikely."

"More so than because he wants to be Harry's friend."

"What do you think, Harry?" Hermione looked away from Ron, to the empty spot of grass beside them. "Oh, he's gone. Where do you think he went?"

"Dunno. Bathroom?"

 

***

 

The common room isn't exactly filled with Slytherins, the way the Gryffindor common room would've been with Gryffindors, but it wasn't empty, either. That didn't matter, though, Harry wasn't looking to hang out right now. He was actually searching for Malfoy. After his conversation with Ron and Hermione down by the lake, he wanted to talk with Malfoy again, and see if maybe there is something more to his offer, something besides Ron's theory. At least, he hoped there was.

Malfoy isn't in the common room, which Harry can see as soon as he steps inside, so he checks the next place since he's so close, their room. To his surprise, Malfoy is laying on his bed, with his books spread out around him. An odd choice for a study location, Harry thought, but he supposed it wasn't completely strange. Malfoy looks up when he enters the room, and he seems to pause for just a moment before greeting him.

"Potter."

"Malfoy. I was actually looking for you."

"Oh? Well, here I am. And what might you be looking for me for?" He turns the page in his book almost lazily, not caring now that Harry's in the room.

"I wanted to talk to you, about what you said the night of the feast."

"I thought we said all that needed to be said. I offered you my friendship again, and again you said no."

"But see, that's the thing I don't understand. Why did you offer me your friendship again? You must've known I would say no when you offered the way you did."

"And what way was that?"

"Like a git."

Malfoy snorts, a half-smile flickering over his face for a moment.

"Ron reckons that's all there is to it. But Hermione seems to think there's more to it than that."

"And what do you think?"

"I think I agree with her. You do want to be my friend, you always have. I just want to know why. The real reason why. Ron thinks it's because your father told you to, but I'm not sure about that. If that was the case, you wouldn't have given up so quickly."

"And who says I've given up?" Malfoy asks him. "Maybe I'm waiting for a better time to try again."

"Maybe. Or maybe you really haven't given up, but you want to seem like you have, which is why you asked Slughorn in private if he could pair us together this year. And why you tried to study with me when I was with Ron, under the pretense of just wanting good grades. Or maybe - "

"Enough. What do you want, Potter?"

"I want to know what you want, Malfoy. What you really want."

Harry looks at him seriously, hoping that maybe he'll actually get an answer, and he almost misses the moment Malfoy's eyes drop down to look at his lips. It stuns him as good as any Stupify would.

"What I really want," Malfoy repeats quietly.

"Yes," Harry says faintly. "What you really want."

Malfoy's gaze meets his again, and the look in his eyes changes; Harry would almost call it determination if it were coming from someone besides a Slytherin. Malfoy stands up suddenly, ignoring his books and papers as they mess and scatter on his bed. He approaches Harry quickly, and Harry almost reaches for his wand, out of pure reflex. In the blink of an eye, Malfoy is nearly toe to toe with him, and Harry has never seen him like this; there's no anger or hatred or mockery in gaze, but still, he's fierce, suddenly. Harry swallows thickly and reflexively licks his lips as Malfoy looks down at them.

"I want you, Potter," Malfoy says slowly, quietly, so Harry strains closer to hear him. "As you said, I've always wanted you.."

He leans into him, and Harry just notices his heart is beating fast in his chest like he's in the middle of an exciting Quidditch match. But then, it's always been that way with Malfoy.

"You want me." He says, almost not noticing the words as they leave his lips.

"Yes," Malfoy confirms.

Harry lets his own eyes wander over that face that he's so used to wearing an ugly expression. But Malfoy's face isn't ugly now; it's still, and open, and focused on him, and he shivers at the desire in his eyes. Because that's what this is, what this whole thing has probably always been about; Malfoy desires him. He may never have known how to go about it before, so he mucked it up, badly, but not now. And now, Harry's considering it.

"Why now, though?" He asks the words a whisper in the scant air between them. He can feel Malfoy's body against his, a breath of air separating them now.

"Because now you're here," Malfoy says emphatically. "And I can actually reach you."

Somehow, Harry knows he doesn't just mean physically.

"I've always been here." He says. "It's just been you, getting in your own way, right from the start. And maybe me, not giving you a proper chance."

Malfoy's gaze travels his face, really taking him in the way Harry's is doing to him in turn, and his mouth turns up slightly at the corner. "So it seems. But is that what you're doing, giving me a chance?"

"So it seems," Harry repeats back.

Malfoy moves even closer then, his hand coming up to cup Harry's face, and Harry's eyes close automatically. His heart is pounding, he feels shaky, this isn't what he thought would happen when he came to talk to Malfoy and none of that matter when Malfoy kisses him. It feels like a static shock, at first, and his breath catches in his throat, but then Malfoy's lips slip a little to the side, his face angled slightly, and their lips press together more firmly, perfectly, and Harry's trapped breath escapes in a moan as Malfoy's body pressed against his.

Malfoy jerks against him, and then he presses Harry against the closed door of the room. When it closed, Harry doesn't know, he doesn't remember doing that when he came in the room, but he's glad for it now. It's solid behind him, and it feels good to be pressed up against it, with Malfoy's body pressing against him this way. Malfoy's hand on his face is warm and gentle, but his other hand is strong, where he's gripping Harry's side. Harry grips him back, pulling him closer, and feels something like relief, and something like fire, a fire inside his blood. He's used to Malfoy boiling his blood, but never like this, never with their lips sliding together wetly and their bodies pressed as close together as it's possible to be right in this instance. It feels so damn good, so much better than any fight between them ever did. Malfoy knocks his feet slightly apart, widening Harry's stance, and their groins press together. Harry moans again at the feeling of Malfoy's erection against his, and Malfoy attacks his lips again, rolling his hips against Harry's in a way that makes him shudder with need.

"Harry," Malfoy says, right in his ear, and Harry shivers and grabs Malfoy's hair at the back of his head. He jerks his face back where he can kiss him, and Malfoy eagerly goes with it.

A hand on his shoulder, the other his thigh; they've moved somehow, from upright against the door to laying down on a bed. Whose bed it is, Harry neither knows nor cares, what he cares about is the feeling of Draco on top of him, pressing him into the bed. Their cocks are out, and Draco wraps his hand around him, squeezing a little too hard at first, but then just right, and Harry jerks into his fist. He can't control the noises he's making, but it doesn't matter, Draco likes it, and he's making noise too, and Harry likes that.  
It's rough, and hot and sweaty and all sorts of things, but it's also perfect at this moment, and he kind of wishes it could last forever, as much as he wants to finish.  
Draco is close, he can tell, he's panting against Harry's mouth, his hips jerking his cock into Harry's fist quickly, and well, he says as much.

"Harry, I'm close. Ah, fuck, I'm close."

"Me too."

Draco's tongue slides against his, and his fist squeezes just right a second later, and Harry can't help coming against him, into his hand, all over his opened trousers. It seems to last forever, and he's vaguely aware of the feeling of moaning loudly, the way his throat moves and Draco accidentally bites his lip, but that feels good, too. Draco bites his neck as he comes, muffling his own moans into Harry's skin, and Harry's never felt anything so good.

"Ah, fuck, Harry."

"Yeah."

He holds Draco's head, where it's pressed into his shoulder, and their hands aren't touching each other's cocks anymore, but wrapped around each other, and their hips twitch and roll slightly, where they're pressed together now. A soft moan escapes him, more like a sigh, and Draco kisses his throat, and then his chin, and his lips. Harry kisses him back because he can. Everything about this feels good.

Draco sighs against him, his hand once again on Harry's face. "That was brilliant."

"It was."

"I don't suppose you'd want to do that again?" He asks.

"Are you kidding?"

Draco stiffens against him, and Harry grabs his sides, holding him right where he is.

"That sounds amazing."

Draco relaxes after a moment, and he smiles down at Harry. Yet again, his breath catches, but he smiles back, something warm and soft fluttering in his chest.

"Good."

Draco leans down to kiss him again, and Harry wonders how soon before they can go again. Draco only laughs.


End file.
